Women Make Movies' Fall Workshop Series kicks off with The Secrets of Successful Proposals. As film funding becomes increasingly scarce and competition grows equally fierce, how will you make your proposal and film stand out in the crowd?

Join us for an essential evening of grant-writing how-to’s. Topics will include identifying a proposal’s 13 elements, writing an effective synopsis, approaching the best funders, and avoiding common mistakes. Successful proposals will be passed out and discussed. Don’t miss this opportunity to improve your skills and take the intimidation out of grant writing! Presented by Michelle Materre, fundraising and grant writing consultant.

Enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a rare opportunity to engage with leading documentary filmmakers and prestigious guests. Highlights will include an intimate conversation with Hoop Dreams filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert and the film’s stars William Gates and Arthur Agee, a keynote by acclaimed Chicago journalist Alex Kotlowitz, and exclusive sneak previews of Kartemquin’s upcoming productions.

The evening will take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center and will feature a discussion on the impact Hoop Dreams had on a generation of viewers and filmmakers, and the legacy of Kartemquin Films moving forward. We wish to create dialogue and build empathy among the attendees of the evening around the urgent, and still relevant issues Hoop Dreams explores.

Join us for this special event to benefit the Kartemquin Films Development Fund. The Kartemquin Films Development Fund will provide critical seed money in support of ­ tomorrow's significant social issue documentary films.
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Can't attend on November 4th? We're also hosting special events at Columbia College Chicago on October 26th with IFP, and at the Better Boys Foundation on October 16th. Check the Hoop Dreams news and Facebook pages for more details.

Hello All,
I'm producing a one day shoot in Boston this Thursday for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation(www.rwjf.org) documenting a teen led event to promote healthy relationships and prevent dating violence among young people. Could anyone recommend a documentary style photojournalist who could shoot stills of the event? We're looking for local talent in Boston, someone who is unobtrusive, who can tell a story through moments, and of course high production value. Any suggestions?

Hi Sara-
I lived and worked in Boston for 7 years and can recommend you contact Natasha Moustache: (www.natashamoustache.com, nlmphoto@gmail.com, 617-869-4742)
Full disclosure: she's a friend, but she's very talented and versatile. I think she's been doing a lot of club-type photography lately to pay the bills, but even if her style is not what you are looking for, she would be a good resource for other photo people in the area. I'll try to think of who else is working there...

Celebrating its 11th year, the Newport Beach Film Festival (California, USA) is open for submissions. Take advantage of our Early Bird Deadline and save.

The 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival will spotlight over 350 films from around the world, including feature length narrative, documentary, short, animated and student films that will compete for a series of Jury, Festival Honors and Audience Awards. The 2010 NBFF will host red carpet Opening and Closing Night Gala Celebrations, International Spotlight events, an Action Sports Film Series, an Environmental Film Series, a Family Film Series, a Collegiate Showcase, a Youth Film Showcase and a free Seminar Series.

In reply to Jonathan Bland's post on Fri 28 Aug 2009 :
Hello Jonathan, I am a documentary maker and an editor based in Pune, India. Your project sounds good and interested me coz I am very much interested in auroville. I wonder if I can be helpful to you in this project in some way.I would like to be a prt of this project. You can also contact me on v_virendra@hotmail.com

The Documentary Filmmakers Course is coming back to The East Bay Media Center in Berkeley, CA November 14-15, 2009. Get great tips and advice on how to get your documentary film project from idea to the screen from documentary producer, consultant and author of The Documentary Film Makers Handbook, Andrew Zinnes.

Topics include: story, research, legal aspects, finance, production, post and sales and distribution. Receive 25% off all sections by registering before November 9th, 2009 with the coupon code DOCDISCOUNT. Please pass this listing on to whomever you think may find it useful.

Go to www.script-tonic.com or call 310-941-2168 for more information or to register fro the seminar. For website signups please select from entries marked "Berkeley."

I came across this today. Thought it may be of interest to any fellow Veteran/Filmmakers out there. See hidden section. Please note that I am not an agent of this org., I am just passing along something that I found to be a potentially good opportunity.

OPERATION IN THEIR BOOTS: FILMMAKING FELLOWSHIP FOR OIF/OEF
SERVICEMEMBERS

Operation In Their Boots is a one-of-a-kind Filmmaking
Fellowship sponsored by Brave New Foundation where five OIF and OEF veterans,
reservists, national guardsmen and women, and currently enlisted service
members* will be selected to direct their own, fully funded documentaries. Participants in this program will be
selected from a 2-stage, online application process that includes the applicants
pitch or proposal for a documentary that will capture their unique perspective
of how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have impacted their lives, and the
lives of their families, loved ones and their communities.

Selected
participants will be paid a stipend of $7,500 and Brave New Foundation will
designate a budget that will cover the selected project´s production
costs.

Too be among the first applicants please attend and apply at the Brave New Foundation
informational presentation:

The only thematic requirement the documentary projects applicants propose is that
they must tell stories about the impact the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are
having on people here in the United States, and they must done from a
non-partisan, non-ideological perspective. The applicants proposed projects may be autobiographical
documentaries, intimate family stories, or documentary projects that focus on
issues related to how the conflicts have impacted our nation.

(*Currently
enlisted servicemembers an other potential participants must get their
commanding officers prior approval to participate in this program).

General
Guideline:

· Prospective participants MUST BE IRAQ and/or AFGHANISTAN WAR
VETERANS, RESERVIST, NATIONAL GUARDSMEN OR WOMEN, OR CURRENTLY ENLISTED SERVICE
MEMBERS. IF YOU DO NOT MEET THIS
REQUIREMENT, YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE.

· Prior filmmaking experience is
preferred, but not required. Applicants who can demonstrate strong storytelling
skills and the proven ability to complete and deliver projects similar in scale
to a 15-minute documentary will be considered.

· Participants must commit to attend
a 3-day "Documentary Filmmakers Bootcamp" in Los Angeles March 12 – 14,
2010. (Travel
expenses for those who need it will be paid by Brave New Foundation)

· Participants
must deliver a documentary of approximately 15-minutes by a deadline to be
established by Brave New Foundation.

· Must
collaborate with the In Their Boots Productions staff on the execution of
production decisions and on establishing and maintain the thematic and creative
direction of their project.

· Participants
must agree to a "Producer Agreement" to participate in the program, and must
agree to participate in all press-related events and campaigns.

Selected applicants will be notified by, or around January 1, 2010 and will have
approximately two weeks to accept or deny participation in the program.

In Their Boots will fund the participants´
projects. Participants
will work with the ITB production staff to develop the stories they
produce. The editing of all
projects will take place at the ITB production offices in Los Angeles by ITB
editors. The ITB production staff
retains the right to make all final editorial and content decisions. The final projects will remain the
property of Brave New Foundation.

Operation In Their Boots is funded by a generous grant from the
Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund (IADIF), a private fund administered by
The California Community Foundation.

Lisa, D-Word member Tom Lennon works in China frequently – he won an Oscar for best documentary short two years ago (for The Blood of Yingzhou District). I'm sure he'd be fine about your contacting him: tl@thomaslennonfilms.com

And when you get the chance, feel free to register for full D-Word membership , which will give you access to all the discussion topics.

Docs In Progress' popular work-in-progress screening series returns to Washington DC this Friday, November 6. Please come join us and bring your critical thinking skills (and any friends who have them).

WHAT'S SCREENING?

Battle for the Big Easy by John Patrick King and Ed Stephenson
Five people from different parts of New Orleans strive to keep alive the city's distinctive Mardi Gras culture after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Are they saving a culture or is the culture saving them?

Hi D-Word friends: I'm looking to rent out my edit suite which I won't be in need of for at least another six months. I'm also open to bartering for access to a good HD camera kit (ideally the Panasonic HVX200) since I'll be back in production mode soon. Thank you!

I can also throw in a big sturdy desk and comfortable swivel chair! And I will deliver it to you myself. I also have a lot of production equipment I won't be needing for awhile too, including a DVX camera,
if anyone's interested.

Once again, we are thrilled to partner with Tribeca All Access for our November DocuClub. The screening will take place on Wednesday, November 18, 7 p.m., at the Tribeca Cinemas, located at 54 Varick Street (corner of Laight, on block below Canal). You can take the 1, A, C, E, trains to Canal Street.

We will screen a rough cut of BEIJING TAXI by Miao Wang. The feature-length documentary vividly portrays the ancient capital of China going through a profound transformational arch. Through a humanistic lens, the intimate lives of three taxi drivers thread through the morphing city of Beijing confronted with modern issues and changing values. Though each faced with their own struggles with modernity, the three characters radiate a warm sense of humanity. With stunning imagery of Beijing combined with a contemporary score rich in atmosphere, the audience experiences a visceral sense of the common citizens’ persistent attempts to grasp the elusive. Its society is living through enormous contradictions adjusting to a new capitalist system from a Communist-ruled and educated society. BEIJING TAXI uses the Olympic games as the backdrop for the film. The Olympics is the biggest metaphor and China’s coming-out party to mark this era of China in transition. Candid and perceptive in its filming approach and highly cinematic and moody in style, BEIJING TAXI takes us on a lyrical journey into fragments of a society riding the bumpy roads to modernization. Though the destination is unknown, they continue to forge ahead.

Born and raised in Beijing, Director Miao Wang immigrated to the United States in 1990. Her first documentary, YELLOW OX MOUNTAIN, has screened at over twenty festivals, received a Best Short Film Award and a broadcast on WNET Thirteen. Wang has worked as an assistant at Maysles Films, and has edited documentaries for PBS and programs for National Geographic. For BEIJING TAXI, Wang has received grants from the Sundance Documentary Fund, the Jerome Foundation, and the New York State Council for the Arts. She has participated in the IFP Filmmaker’s Lab, Tribeca All Access, and Independent Film Week and currently splits her time between New York and Beijing. BEIJING TAXI is her first feature-length documentary.

Producer Ivana Stolkiner was born in Argentina, and moved to New York in 1998. After graduating with honors from Hunter College’s film program in 2004, Stolkiner assisted the producers of Kartemquin Films in several award-winning documentaries--MAPPING STEM CELL RESEARCH: TERRA INCOGNITA, MILKING THE RHINO and IN THE FAMILY, among others. She has assisted Engel Entertainment in films for the Discovery Channel and National Geographic, and has also served as an associate producer at Pacific Street for the documentaries IN DEBT WE TRUST and BEYOND WISE GUYS.

Editor Sikay Tang received her film training with Spike Lee’s production of JUNGLE FEVER (1991) and MALCOM X (1992). A year later, during the making of her first video, Tang began her interest in film editing. Her editing credits include the documentaries CHISHOLM 72: UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED (2004) by Shola Lunch, and THE GOOD SOLDIER (2009) by Michael Uys and and Lexy Lovell. Tang works as a film and video editor and lives in New York City.

Our moderator will be Adella Ladjevardi, Grants Manager at Cinereach, a not-for-profit organization that facilitates the creation of films that “challenge, excite, innovate, offer new perspectives and inspire action.” Most recently, she was the Associate Producer for 2009’S MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER, a documentary feature by Emmy-award winner Anne Aghion. Ladjevardi was also Associate Producer for the four-hour cut of acclaimed filmmaker Jennifer Fox’s 2008 documentary mini-series FLYING: CONFESSIONS OF A FREE WOMAN, broadcast on the BBC and SBS; and served as the Distribution and Outreach Manager for the educational and non-theatrical markets for FLYING’s six-hour version. Prior to working with Fox, Adella worked for three years in marketing and publicity at documentary film distributor Icarus Films. She was also Associate Producer of Tanaz Eshaghian’s 2002 short doc I CALL MYSELF PERSIAN: IRANIANS IN AMERICA, broadcast on PBS and screened at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight. Ladjevardi received a BFA in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Admission is free for current DocuClub members and $6 for non-members.

Set in the historic village of Mendocino on the spectacular Northern California coast, the Mendocino Film Festival (June 4-6, 2010) has been praised by attending filmmakers as “a filmmaker’s film festival,” an intimate gathering place for independent artists hailing from across the country and around the globe.

The Mendocino Film Festival offers attending filmmakers the warmest hospitality for three nights in the private homes, lodges, and inns of Mendocino and neighboring communities. With screenings and discussions by day, filmmakers and audience members gather in the evenings for informal celebrations and special events. Gatherings include an opening reception and a private filmmakers’ party at an historic Victorian home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The atmosphere is profoundly relaxed, intimate and festive.

"The Mendocino Film Festival is the near perfect film festival. It is about great films, talented filmmakers and wonderful film lovers, all set in a breathtakingly beautiful place," said filmmaker Adrian Belic.

The Mendocino Film Festival focuses on creative kinship and great films. Filmmakers come to Mendocino to turn off their cell phones, hike our beautiful coastline and share their work with passionate colleagues and attendees. Mendocino is known for its artistic and politically active population—our audiences are informed, engaged and supportive.

Located on the Northern California coast a scenic three-hour drive from San Francisco, Mendocino is a charming and historic village with everything in walking distance. The town’s unforgettable setting has served as the backdrop for over sixty films, including East of Eden, Same Time Next Year, Summer of ‘42, The Russians Are Coming, The Majestic, and Murder She Wrote.

The Mendocino Film Festival invites filmmakers to submit entries by Dec. 1, 2009, to one of these special categories:

• Films on the Arts – Films on the lives, work and creative process of artists in the visual, literary, applied and performing arts.
• Films for our Future – Environmental, social justice, and spiritually themed films that offer models, solutions, and inspiration for our future.
• Documentary Features – Strong, well-crafted stories that inform, infuriate, inspire and change how we see the world.

Back by popular demand is the 2nd Annual Bridge International Screenplay Competition. We are currently accepting screenplays and teleplays from around the world. Don't miss this priceless opportunity to have your work in front of over 8,500 industry professionals. Submitting your script is fast and easy with our simple online entry form.

Thanks to the overwhelming response we received last season from writers world-wide, we're able to offer $10 entry fees this year! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Submit today!

MFA Documentary Program at Hofstra University is hosting a screening of Made in L.A. tonight at 7pm. The film will be shown on the university campus in Breslin 211 following a guest speaker.

Information about the film:
Emmy award-winning feature documentary that follows the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer.
Guest Speaker: Nadia Marin, Attorney / Executive Director, the Workplace Project of Long Island.